So at my job I work in closely with about 10 salespeople. I just wondered if people here had a opinion about these fine, brilliant individuals. Are they stereotyped in any way? Are they a different breed etc.?
Some salespeople really get on my nerves. Like those guys working at 24hr fitness. I think they're brainwashed.
The salesman/person is a fascinating individual. If you think about leadership, especially in today's oversaturated media market, salesmanship is more important than ever. Perhaps that is part of the problem. In key positions politically, economically and elsewhere we are replacing competance with salesmanship. That said, I've met and worked with many highly competent salespeople. Still, when you are on the other end of the transaction it rubs you the wrong way because you know there is some kind of spin on everything you're getting.
I would say that the vast majority of them are back-stabbing assholes. My wife is an amazing salesperson. She makes very good coin doing so. However, she's about to abandon the entire industry because she just can't handle all the crap that goes on with those people. Bottom line, think long and hard before you trust one in a job situation.
Why did I expect this response? It is views like that that keep good salesmen out of the business. Bottom line: Every individual is different, not everyone is trying to screw you, and it's extremely prejudiced to assume otherwise.
Yeah, I remember you saying she worked for Sign ad? I'm in a similar business on the production side. There is just something weasley about these guys. And of course I have to cater to them because they bring in the money. I'm hating it and them more and more. Sometimes I just think they are slime. I can hear the sales meetings too. They had one meeting where the topic was to convince themselves that it is ok to be a sales person. It's weird stuff.
That's been her problem. She's assumed otherwise and has always gotten the knife in the back. For example, we got out of town for Rita fairly quickly, so she was able to work from where we were covering for her co-worker's while they tried to get out of town. Then, when they covered for her as we tried to get back, a) ripped a sale right out from under her and b) lied to her customers about where she was. She's had very similar experiences at two other sales' jobs. It's prejudiced to ASSume we were being prejudiced instead of actually thinking I was basing my assumption on experience. FWIW, I've never had an opinion about salespeople until meeting/dating/marrying my wife. I've witnessed firsthand the **** she's gone through.
Then she is in a really crappy sales job, and has been before. I'm guessing they "recruit" rather than interview. I've rarely had a job or a sale taken away. When it has happened, I confronted the person who did it, and their supervisor. I do expect to be reimbursed when it does happen. Also, some people just aren't cut out for it. It can be hard work. But I have never "screwed" someone. For the most part, I've had customers "screw" me far more.
Well... Crap! You edited your previous response. This is the problem I had. I would say the vast majority are good people. It's the select few assholes that screw people over that mess up the rest of the salesmen.
If I sat around giving each individual a clean slate to allow judgement on them, then I'd be in Tibet leading midday chants. Seeing that I'm not, I tend to generalize, and 8 out of 10 sales people I've ever dealt with are completely ignorant of my needs and only care about the sale. Treat me like a number, I'll treat you like one. The sales people that are excellent, I do business with on a regular basis.
Where do you draw the line to become an *******? Can you at least admit that they are kind of weasley?
I think a lot of it depends on what kind of industry it is. You're always going to find bad apples when you have a high-turnover, high-pressure industry such as copier, and internet service sales. The vast majority of sales jobs are not that way. I find most service-oriented sales people to be good people who really want to help customers solve problems. Those who are only in it for the quick buck are usually the ones getting canned.
I don't care for them too much. I work in the IT of a company and have to support the salespeople of the company and it's generally a pain to deal with them. For some reason they feel that everybody should bend over backwards for them and that any rules don't apply to them. And yes,they are a weasly group of people.
Yeah, the world is full of "weasels"; and in the world of sales there may be a higher than typical ratio, but it is wrong to paint all salespeople with such a broad brush. I'm in sales (furniture) and the small group of six that I work with I trust like family (well, maybe moreso in some instances). I go out of my way to never seem high pressure or insincere, and will always steer the customer to what I consider to be the best deal, if allowed the chance. Sad thing is, so many out there have either had a bad experience with a salesperson or have heard of so many others that have, that sometimes I can't even help them make a wise choice. Thankfuly, for the most part our customers are pretty good to deal with and when they can see we have their best interest at heart (and ours as well -afterall, repeat customers and referals are the best) it realy makes me feel great. In fact, I'd love to shoot the REAL weasels in sales who give the rest of us a bad name.
Its a numbers game people. Sales people are supposed to act that way. Its the only way to bring in the big money for the companies that brainwash them. Hell my wife just quit 24hours fitness as a trainer because she hated selling. Funny thing was they didnt even want her too because she was the most knowledgable one on the staff. But she decided to call it quits. I even told her for every 100 no's there will be that 1 yes.. I even spewed the numbers game to her .... Sorry I'm a business minded person and to me its the numbers game you play primarily.
A good salesperson will allways go to bat for the customer when they perceive they have been wronged or suopport is uncaring, or dragging their feet in resolving the issue. True, we want to save the sale, but it's F***ing embarassing if we don't deliver as promised, and I tend to take it personaly as we are the ones on the front lines.
